Young  People 

and 

the  World’s 
Evangelization 

President  John  Franklin  Goticher 

^  I  • 


HERE  are  some  bless¬ 
ings  promised  in  God’s 
word  to  old  people, 
and  others  to  those  in 
middle  life,  but  young 
people  are  the  pre¬ 
ferred  class  in  God’s  providence,  for 
every  blessing  promised  in  the  Bible 
may  be  successively  theirs.  When  a 
child  is  converted  it  is  a  double  work 
of  grace,  namely,  the  salvation  of  a 
life  and  the  salvation  of  a  lifetime, 
with  its  untold  opportunities  and  in¬ 
fluence.  Polycarp  was  martyred  at 
ninety-five.  But  he  was  converted  at 
nine,  and  had  given  eighty-six  years 
of  blessed  service. 


Conversions  most 
frequent 

It  is  not  an  accident  that  young  Youth 
people  are  the  chief  objective  of  the 
scheme  of  salvation.  In  youth  the 
heart  is  like  wax  in  its  impressible¬ 


ness,  like  bronze  in  its  retentiveness. 
The  years  in  which  conversion  usu¬ 
ally  occurs  are  between  twelve  and 
twenty.  Statistics  show  the  year  of 
most  frequent  conversion  is  the  six¬ 
teenth  for  girls  and  the  seventeenth 
for  boys.  Those  years  passed,  the 
prospects  decrease,  and  after  twenty- 
two  the  probability  is  very  small,  for 
over  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  members 
of  the  evangelical  churches  in  Amer¬ 
ica  were  converted  before  they  were 
twenty-three  years  of  age.  Less  than 


five  per  cent,  of  those  who  leave  col¬ 
lege  unconverted  ever  commit  them- 
selve  to  a  Christian  life. 

Practical  philosophers  and  psy¬ 
chologists  no  longer  busy  themselves 
about  probation  after  death,  but  with 
how  far  the  tendency  to  fixedness  of 
habit  reduces  the  probability  of  ever 
initiating  the  Christian  life  after  the 
twenty-fifth  year  has  passed.  The 
thought  of  the  past  concerned  itself 
with  the  Divine  decrees,  and  threw 
the  responsibility  upon  God;  the 
thought  of  the  present  is  largely  con¬ 
cerned  with  personal  duty,  and  throws 
the  responsibility  upon  man. 

Life  Choices 

The  latest  psychology  teaches 
“  that  our  impulses  and  instincts 
ripen  in  a  certain  order,  and  if  the 
proper  objects  are  provided  at  the 
proper  time,  habits  of  conduct  and 
character  are  formed  which  last  for 
life;  but  if  neglected  the  impulse  dies 
out,  and  our  most  earnest  efforts  meet 
with  no  response.”  Professor  Star- 
buck  asserts  and  supports  his  state¬ 
ment  with  many  facts  and  figures, 
that  “  conversion  is  a  distinctively 
adolescent  phenomenon.”  Professor 
Coe  says,  “  Conversion,  or  some 
equivalent  personalizing  of  religion, 
is  a  normal  part  of  adolescent  growth, 
and  a  deeply  personal  life  choice  is 
now  easier  than  either  before  or 
after.”  The  normal  occupation  dur¬ 
ing  adolescence  is  consciously  or  sub¬ 
consciously  to  make  life  choices. 

Young  people  must  be  the  prime 
objective  in  the  world’s  evangeliza¬ 
tion,  for  usually  before  or  during 
adolescence,  if  ever,  the  foundations 


z 


of  a  Christian  life  are  laid,  the  stu¬ 
dent  life  is  determined,  and  the  trend 
for  greatest  usefulness  is  established. 

If  for  thirty  consecutive  years  all 
the  young  people  in  the  world  be¬ 
tween  ten  and  twenty-three  years  of 
age  could  be  reached  by  Christian 
teaching,  the  world’s  evangelization 
would  be  accomplished.  Five  suc¬ 
cessive  generations  of  young  people, 
from  ten  to  seventeen  years  of  age — 
during  the  years  when  most  respon¬ 
sive  to  the  claims  of  religion — would 
have  been  under  the  influence  of 
gospel  truth;  and  five  successive  gen¬ 
erations,  between  sixteen  and  twenty- 
three  years  of  age — the  second 
period  most  determinative  of  a  re¬ 
ligious  life — would  have  had  similar 
influence.  Within  these  periods 
nearly  every  person  assumes  a  per¬ 
sonal  relation  to  religion  which  he 
makes  final.  The  vast  majority  of 
those  who  are  now  twenty-two  years 
old,  and  not  already  Christians,  of 
whom  probably  less  than  two  per  cent, 
would  be  converted  under  the  most 
favorable  conditions,  will  have  passed 
to  their  final  account  within  thirty 
years,  and  the  world  would  be  occu¬ 
pied  with  those  who  had  faced  the 
responsibility  of  accepting  or  reject¬ 
ing  Christ,  during  the  most  favorable 
periods  of  their  lives,  and  the  world 
would  be  evangelized. 

Qualifications  ot 
Youth 

Young  people  are  not  discriminated  s°errvicc 
against  in  the  outworking  of  God’s 
purpose.  They  receive  from  Christ 
the  commission  to  “  go,”  which  is 
never  withheld  from  those  who 
“  come.”  As  they  necessarily  consti- 


3 


tute  the  chief  subjects  of  the  world’s 
evangelization,  they  must  largely  fur¬ 
nish  the  agents  and  accessories  for  its 
accomplishment.  Their  number  would 
of  itself  make  them  an  important 
factor  in  this  great  work,  but  their 
quality  is  more  important  than  their 
quantity.  They  are  acquisitive  and  at 
an  age  when,  if  ever,  they  will  en¬ 
throne  God,  and  lay  the  foundation  of 
devotion  and  liberality.  They  most 
readily  acquire  strange  languages,  are 
enthusiastic,  aggressive  and  coura¬ 
geous,  rarely  pessimistic,  have  endur¬ 
ance  and  improvableness.  They  are 
the  part  of  the  army  most  easily 
mobilized,  for  they  are  not  as  yet 
articulated  with  society,  and  high 
enterprise  appeals  to  their  spirit. 
They  are  flexible  and  easily  adapt 
themselves  to  changing  conditions. 
They  furnish  the  very  material  for  a 
successful  propaganda,  and  offer  the 
rational  field  for  recruiting  the  agents 
and  developing  the  supporters. 

Importance  of 

Early  - 

Training  If  the  leaders  are  to  be  truly  great, 
their  training  must  be  commenced 
when  young,  that  they  may  discover 
their  aptitudes,  develop  their  endow¬ 
ments,  gather  detailed  and  compre¬ 
hensive  knowledge,  acquire  skill,  and 
be  adjusted  to  their  mission.  It  is 
more  than  a  coincidence  that  during 
adolescence,  when  men  and  women 
are  most  responsive  to  the  call  of  God, 
they  are  also  most  available  as  agents, 
most  teachable,  and  then,  if  ever,  the 
habits  of  devotion  and  liberality  are 
best  established. 

Every  one  is  commissioned  to  be 
Christ’s  witness  “  to  the  uttermost 


4 


parts  of  the  world.”  The  burden  of 
proof  is  with  each  one  to  show  how 
he  is  justified  in  not  being  personally 
at  the  front.  If  that  is  clear,  he  is 
under  positive  requirement  to  be  at 
the  front  representatively  so  far  as 
possible.  To  hold  the  life  line  is  as 
important  and  obligatory  as  to  go 
into  the  breakers. 

Material 

Resources 

If  adequate  accessories  are  to  be 
available  it  must  be  through  training 
the  young  people  to  practical  sym¬ 
pathy  and  personal,  proportionate  co¬ 
operation.  In  two  decades  or  less  the 
$25,000,000,000  now  in  the  hands 
of  the  church  members  of  the  United 
States  will  be  $50,000,000,000,  or 
more,  and  this  sum,  whatever  it  may 
be,  will  be  subject  to  the  administra¬ 
tion  of  those  who  to-day  are  in  their 
formative  age.  Those  to  whom  it  is 
now  entrusted  will  be  in  eternity, 
facing  the  most  serious  aspects  of  the 
question  how  it  was  they  had  the  di¬ 
rection  of  so  much  capital  and  left  it 
uninvested  for  the  Kingdom.  Now, 
if  ever,  those  who  are  to  possess  it 
must  be  taught  the  duty  and  joy  of 
systematic  and  proportionate  cooper¬ 
ation  with  the  cause  of  God,  that  it  is 
their  obligation  to  tithe  their  posses¬ 
sions,  and  their  opportunity  to  con¬ 
tribute  so  much  as  they  can,  not  from 
impulse  or  as  a  gratuity,  but  “  as  good 
stewards  of  the  manifold  grace  of 
God,”  that  at  His  coming  Christ  may 
have  His  own  with  proper  use.  Un¬ 
consecrated  wealth  is  an  offense  to 
God,  and  a  canker  and  curse  to  the 
holder.  “  Your  gold  and  your  silver 
is  cankered  and  the  rust  of  them  shall 
be  a  witness  against  you.” 


5 


If  all  the  members  of  the  Church 
were  devoted  to  hastening  the  king¬ 
dom  of  God,  the  church  militant 
would  be  the  church  triumphant,  and 
the  problem  of  home  missions  would 
be  solved  in  a  decade.  There  is 
nothing  more  contagious  than  Chris¬ 
tian  personality. 

Resources  in 

Eighteen  and  two-third  centuries 
have  passed  since  Christ  commanded 
His  disciples  to  preach  His  gospel  to 
every  creature,  yet  only  one  of  the 
entire  membership  of  the  evangelical 
churches  of  the  United  States  has 
gone  into  the  foreign  field  for  every 

5.500  who  stay  at  home,  and  only 

1.500  of  their  ordained  ministers  are 
engaged  in  foreign  work,  while  the 
other  18,000,000  members  and 
122,000  ministers  are  living  their 
lives  in  the  home  field. 

If  the  evangelical  churches  were  to 
send  to  the  foreign  fields  two  thou¬ 
sand  missionaries  a  year  for,  say 
thirty  years,  the  world  could  be  evan¬ 
gelized  before  the  close  of  the  first 
third  of  this  twentieth  century.  That 
would  mean,  after  about  twelve 
years  a  standing  army  of,  say  20,000 
laboring  among  the  1,000,000,000 
who  know  not  God  nor  Jesus  Christ 
whom  He  hath  sent,  or  one  mission¬ 
ary  for  every  50,000  persons  to  be 
reached.  That  would  be  sufficient,  if 
properly  supported,  to  develop  and 
give  direction  to  the  native  agencies 
and  assure  success. 

This  is  not  impossible,,  nor  would 
it  make  a  disastrous  or  unreasonable 
draft  on  the  home  churches.  There 
are  nearly  twice  two  thousand  young 


6 


people,  Student  Volunteers,  in  the 
colleges  and  universities  of  the  United 
States  to-day  who  are  pledged  for 
this  work  and  eager  to  go.  If  the 
demand  were  manifest  their  number 
would  be  largely  increased.  Two 
thousand  a  year  would  be  only  one 
out  of  eleven  of  the  young  people 
who  go  out  from  our  colleges  and  uni¬ 
versities,  or  about  one  out  of  every 
sixteen  leaving  our  institutions  of 
higher  education  annually. 

0  J  Evangelization 

Possibl 

To  carry  out  this  moderate  but 
sufficient  propaganda  would  require, 
say,  $30,000,000  annually.  This 
should  be  no  serious  inconvenience. 

The  people  of  the  United  States 
spend,  shall  we  say  waste,  $11,000,- 
000  a  year  on  chewing  gum, — one 
third  enough  to  save  the  world. 
Thirty  million  dollars  per  year  would 
be  only  three  twenty-fifths  of  one  per 
cent.,  or  twelve  cents  out  of  each  hun¬ 
dred  dollars  now  in  the  hands  of 
the  evangelical  church  members  in 
this  country.  What  might  be  done 
by  reasonable  sacrifice?  The  young 
people  could  provide  this  amount 
themselves  if  they  had  a  mind  so  to 
do.  An  average  of  one  cent  per  day 
from  the  more  than  five  million  mem¬ 
bers  enrolled  in  the  young  people’s 
societies  of  the  churches  in  the  United 
States,  and  one  cent  per  week  from 
the  something  over  fourteen  millions 
gathered  in  the  Sunday-schools, 
would  supply  almost  the  money  nec¬ 
essary. 

J  Education 

Essenti 

It  is  not  unreasonable  to  believe 
that  the  world’s  evangelization  will 


be  accomplished  by  the  young  people 
when  they  are  properly  educated. 
When  Frederick  the  Great  heard  of 
the  defeat  of  his  army  on  a  certain 
occasion,  he  exclaimed,  “  We  must 
educate.”  Burke  said,  “  Education 
is  the  cheap  defense  of  nations.” 
The  Church,  like  Hannah,  the  wife 
of  Elkanah,  must  bring  her  youth  to 
the  temple  and  dedicate  them  to  be 
educated  for  and  in  the  ministry  of 
the  sanctuary.  Then  she  can  say, 
like  Christ,  “  Of  them  which  Thou 
gayest  me  have  I  lost  none.”  The 
prophecy  is,  “  All  thy  children  shall 
be  taught  of  the  Lord.” 

If  “  child  ”  means  one  who  is  not 
yet  hardened  into  maturity,  the  proph¬ 
ecy  that  a  “  child  shall  lead  them  ” 
may  be  fulfilled  in  this  great  work  of 
bringing  the  world  to  Christ.  The 
soldiers  who  have  won  the  great  bat¬ 
tles  of  modern  times  were  young  men, 
many  of  them  still  in  their  teens. 
General  Grant  said  in  his  Fourth  of 
July  address  at  Hamburg,  “  What 
saved  the  Union  was  the  coming  for¬ 
ward  of  the  young  men.” 


Achievements  of 


Youth 

in 

History 


Patrick  Henry,  by  rallying  the 
young  men  of  the  Virginia  House  of 
Delegates,  secured  the  passage  of  a 
resolution  sustaining  the  independence 
of  the  colonies  and  set  a  standard  for 
the  new  world. 

The  French  Academy,  which  for 
two  and  a  half  centuries  has  been  so 
potent  a  factor  in  shaping  the  brilliant 
literature  of  that  people,  had  its  be¬ 
ginning  in  the  ardent  longings  and 
aspirations  of  young  men,  the  oldest 
of  whom,  with  perhaps  one  exception, 
were  under  twenty-seven  years  of  age. 


8 


Pitt  entered  Parliament  when  he 
was  hardly  twenty-two,  and  was  Prime 
Minister  of  Great  Britain  before  he 
was  twenty-five. 

The  typical  missionary,  who  out¬ 
lined  the  ideal  and  set  the  pattern,  He 
who  undertook  the  most  stupendous 
work  ever  enterprised,  the  work  of 
reconciling  God  and  man,  said  at  the 
age  of  thirty-three,  “  It  is  finished,” 
and  returned  to  Heaven  from  whence 
He  came. 

Saul  officially  witnessed  the  stoning 
of  Stephen  at  twenty-seven,  and  a 
short  time  after  was  commissioned  by 
Christ  to  go  bear  His  name  far  hence 
to  the  Gentiles. 

Timothy  was  but  fourteen  when 
converted  and  eighteen  when  called  to 
become  the  assistant  to  the  great 
apostle. 

Adoniram  Judson  was  but  twenty- 
two  when  he  resolved  to  devote  him¬ 
self  to  foreign  mission  work,  and 
started  for  India  at  twenty-four. 

Robert  Morrison  was  but  twenty- 
two  when  he  was  accepted  by  the 
London  Missionary  Society  and  com¬ 
missioned  to  open  Christian  work  in 
China. 

David  Livingstone  was  twenty-one, 
Jacob  Chamberlain  nineteen,  and 
Bishop  Thoburn  only  seventeen  when 
called  to  foreign  mission  work.  These 
ages  are  not  exceptional,  but  illustrate 
the  rule.  “  Wherever  in  history  we 
mark  a  great  movement  of  humanity, 
we  commonly  detect  a  young  man  at 
its  head  or  at  its  heart.” 

It  is  quite  probable  that  when  this 
world  is  evangelized,  it  will  be  through 
the  agency  of  young  people,  occupy- 


ing  the  firing-line,  seeking  and  teach¬ 
ing  the  young  people  while  the  rest  of 
the  Church,  whose  training  com¬ 
menced  as  young  people,  will  supply 
with  equal  devotion  the  accessories  for 
maintenance  and  expansion,  every  one 
giving  his  tithe  in  kind,  sympathy, 
prayer,  thought,  time  and  money,  as 
each  is  possible. 

Agencies  for  worid- 

Evangef-  It  is  not  only  possible  that  the  young 
people  will  accomplish  the  world’s 
evangelization,  but  the  agencies  are 
well  organized  and  the  process  far  ad¬ 
vanced.  The  trend  of  the  evangelical 
churches  was  to  emphasize,  through 
organized  effort,  the  importance  of 
work  for  young  people;  latterly  the 
trend  is  to  emphasize  work  by  young 
people.  Their  organizations  for  de¬ 
veloping  knowledge,  loyalty  and  min¬ 
istries  have  had  a  quiet  but  striking 
evolution  until  their  comprehensive¬ 
ness,  possibilities  and  articulation  with 
the  great  work  of  the  world’s  evangel¬ 
ization  are  startling  and  prophetic. 

Sunday-schools 

First,  as  to  number  and  date  of  or¬ 
ganization,  is  the  Sunday-school.  In 
its  earlier  stage  it  gathered  poor  chil¬ 
dren,  and  them  exclusively,  and  taught 
the  elements  of  education  and  primary 
religious  truths.  Subsequently  it 
sought  to  gather  all  children  and  youth 
for  instruction  in  Bible  truths  and  per¬ 
sonal  obligations.  Its  system,  scope 
and  efficiency  have  improved,  looking 
more  and  more  to  securing  practical 
and  immediate  results  in  personal  ex¬ 
perience  and  effectiveness. 

There  are  over  fourteen  millions 
gathered  into  the  Sunday-schools  of 


io 


America.  It  is  estimated  that  of  these 
twenty  per  cent,  are  converted  during 
their  attendance,  and  twenty  per  cent, 
afterward.  That  leaves  sixty  per  cent, 
to  be  accounted  for;  but  the  forty  per 
cent,  who  profess  conversion  furnish 
eighty-seven  per  cent,  of  the  members 
of  the  evangelical  churches,  and  only 
thirteen  per  cent,  are  gathered  from 
those  who  never  had  Sunday-school 
instruction.  The  Sunday-school  teach¬ 
ers  constitute  the  vanguard  of  the 
Kingdom. 

If  our  Sunday-school  scholars  were 
systematically  trained  to  give  an 
average  of  one  cent  per  week  to 
the  world’s  evangelization,  it  would 
amount  to  over  seven  million  dollars, 
or  be  nearly  one  and  one-half  times  as 
much  as  the  entire  Protestant  Church 
of  America  is  giving  for  foreign  mis¬ 
sions.  Systematic  work  has  com¬ 
menced  in  this  most  promising  field. 

The  sixteenth  or  seventeenth  is  the 
year  of  maximum  probability  for  con¬ 
version,  and  the  aim  and  effort  is  be¬ 
coming  more  defined  on  the  part  of 
the  Sunday-schools  to  see  that  every 
scholar  is  awakened,  converted  and 
started  in  systematic  cooperation  with 
the  Church  before  that  year  is  passed. 

In  1901  there  were  more  than  2,000 
normal  classes,  and  18,000  conven¬ 
tions  held  among  the  workers  in  these 
Sunday-schools,  and  over  200,000 
joined  the  evangelical  churches  from 
the  ranks  of  the  scholars. 

The  Student 

Young 

The  Young  Men’s  Christian  Asso-  ^her"stsian 
ciation  was  organized  in  1844.  Its 
primary  object  was  to  look  after  young 
men,  who  are  subjected  to  varied, 
subtle  and  serious  temptations  in  our 


11 


“  homeless  cities.”  Everything  is  a 
part  of  the  Universe  of  God,  and  any¬ 
thing  which  is  well  born  becomes  ar¬ 
ticulated  with  His  great  purpose.  So 
the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associa¬ 
tion  has  naturally  broadened  its  scope, 
multiplied  its  departments  of  work 
and  enriched  its  ministries. 

The  International  Committee  of 
the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associa¬ 
tion  commenced  to  develop  u  d  he 
Student  Young  Men’s  Christian  As¬ 
sociation  ”  work  in  1877.  The  move¬ 
ment  now  includes  nearly  every  lead¬ 
ing  college  and  university  in  North 
America.  “  Its  object  is  to  lead  stu¬ 
dents  to  be  intelligent  and  loyal  dis¬ 
ciples  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  train  them 
in  individual  and  association  Christian 
work,  and  to  influence  them  to  place 
their  lives  where  they  can  best  serve 
their  generation.”  Through  secre¬ 
taries,  training  conferences,  Bible,  mis¬ 
sion,  normal  and  other  study  classes, 
special  literature  and  deputation  men, 
its  work  has  been  systematically 
pushed  until  it  has  come  to  be  a  chief 
influence  in  our  leading  institutions  for 
promoting  the  Kingdom  in  the  lives 
of  the  students.  In  state  and  unde¬ 
nominational  institutions  it  has  well 
nigh  the  monopoly  of  this  work. 
Largely  through  its  efficiency  the  col¬ 
leges  and  universities  have  come  to  be 
the  most  Christian  communities  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  “  Taking 
the  young  men  of  North  America  as  a 
whole,  not  more  than  eight  per  cent., 
or  one  in  twelve,  are  Christians.  In 
1902  a  careful  census  taken  in  three 
hundred  and  fifty-six  of  our  colleges 
and  universities  showed  that  of  83,000 


young  men,  52  per  cent.,  or  more  than 
one-half  of  the  student  body,  were 
members  of  evangelical  churches. 
Twenty-five  years  previous  the  pro¬ 
portion  was  less  than  one-third.” — 

John  R.  Mott. 

The  virility  of  this  movement  makes 
it  a  great  deal  more  than  a  home  mis¬ 
sionary  organization.  The  student 
type  of  religion  is  manly  and  practical. 

“  Their  religious  life  is  based  upon 
a  personal  study  of  the  Scriptures  and 
Christian  evidences,  and  not  least  help¬ 
ful  in  shaping  their  faith  has  been  the 
influence  of  the  presentation  and  study 
of  the  facts  of  Christian  missions.” 

For  years  past  students  have  been  the 
largest  purchasers  of  missionary 
books.  They  believe,  with  Bishop 
Whately,  “  If  our  religion  is  not  true 
we  ought  to  change  it.  If  it  is  true 
we  are  bound  to  propagate  what  we 
believe  to  be  the  truth.” 

The  Student 

Volunteer 

“  The  Student  Volunteer  Move-  Movcment 
ment  for  Foreign  Missions,”  a  special 
branch  of  this  work,  was  organized  in 
1888.  It  works  among  the  most 
potential  class  in  the  Christian  world 
and  seeks  to  bring  them  to  the  high¬ 
est  service  in  ministry  to  others.  Their 
appeal  is  to  conscience,  conviction, 
consecration,  courage  and  character. 

The  volunteers  are  among  those  of 
strongest  personality,  largest  equip¬ 
ment  and  greatest  efficiency.  Through 
this  agency  about  10,000  students 
have  volunteered  in  the  past  seventeen 
years.  A  large  proportion  of  these 
are  still  at  college  preparing,  but  over 
4,000  are  actually  in  the  field  and 
many  more  would  be  if  the  Church 


had  been  ready  to  send  them.  A  re¬ 
cruiting  agency  has  thus  been  offered 
the  Church,  the  like  of  which  she  had 
never  known. 


The  World’s  Student 

Federation  The  World’s  Student  Christian 
Federation,  organized  in  1895,  in¬ 
cludes  eleven  national  organizations, 
over  1,800  separate  associations  or 
unions  and  about  ninety  per  cent,  of 
the  institutions  of  higher  education  of 
the  entire  world,  with  a  total  member¬ 
ship  of  over  100,000  students  and 
professors.  An  associated  Christian 
effort  has  thus  united  more  students 
around  the  cross  of  the  conquering 
Jesus  than  any  other  inter-collegiate 
organization,  athletic,  literary,  fra¬ 
ternal  or  political.  “As  go  the  uni¬ 
versities  so  go  the  nations.” 

This  Federation  is  concerned,  in 
purpose  at  least,  with  the  moral  and 
religious  welfare  of  two-thirds  of  the 
young  men  of  the  human  race.  The 
movement  is  now  looking  toward  the 
8,000  secondary  schools  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada  with  their  275,000 
boys  as  the  key  to  the  colleges  and 
universities.  Of  the  381,982  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  Young  Men’s  Christian 
Association  in  this  country  54,739  are 
boys  under  sixteen  years  of  age. 

The  Young  Women’s 

Association  The  American  Committee  of  the 
Young  Women’s  Christian  Associa¬ 
tion,  working  along  similar  lines,  with 
similar  results,  was  organized  in  1886, 
and  numbers  671  associations  with  a 
membership  of  100,252. 


Young  People’s 
Societies 


The  Young  People  who  never  go 
to  college  far  exceed  in  number  those 
who  do.  They  also  are  organizing 


0 


14 


and  being  trained  for  and  enlisted  in 
this  great  work.  This  indicates  a 
third  line  of  preparation  for  the 
world’s  evangelization. 

The  Young  People’s  Society  of 
Christian  Endeavor,  the  Epworth 
League,  the  Baptist  Young  People’s 
Union,  the  Christian  Union  of  United 
Brethren,  the  Young  People’s  Union 
of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church, 
the  Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and 
Philip,  and  other  smaller  associations, 
include  an  aggregate  membership,  not 
counting  any  twice,  of  somewhat  over 
5,000,000,  or  about  28  per  cent,  of 
the  evangelical  church  members  of 
the  United  States. 

Horizon  and  inspiration,  purpose 
and  uplift,  have  come  to  the  young 
people  through  the  great  conventions 
held  by  these  various  organizations. 
Growth  is  as  natural  to  young  people 
as  enthusiasm.  It  is  significant  that 
their  conventions  are  approximating 
the  Conference  idea.  They  are  stress¬ 
ing  more  and  more  Bible,  Mission  and 
normal  study,  study  of  the  various 
fields,  problems,  phases  and  methods 
of  Church  life  and  work.  Their  pro¬ 
grams  provide  for  less  rhetoric  and 
more  facts.  Those  who  have  brought 
things  to  pass  are  invited  to  contribute 
of  their  experiences,  explain  methods 
and  answer  questions.  In  their  local 
organizations  they  associate  young 
people  together  for  specific  religious 
purposes,  spiritual,  missionary,  char¬ 
itable,  literary  and  social.  They  make 
the  young  people  accessible  to  syste¬ 
matic  instruction  and  develop  organ¬ 
ized  and  individual  effort,  skill  and 
efficiency  and  beget  a  sense  of  personal 


15 


/ 


The  Young 
Missionary 
Movement 


responsibility  and  achievement.  They 
have  vast  possibilities  and  are  gradual¬ 
ly  occupying  them. 

Only  about  two  per  cent,  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  who  reach 
twenty-three  years  of  age,  without  a 
clear  personal  identification  with 
Christ  and  His  Church,  ever  become 
Christians.  The  Young  People’s  So¬ 
cieties  are  developing  a  spirit  of  co¬ 
operation  with  the  churches  to  see  by 
all  possible  means  that  every  one  who 
can  be  reached  is  thoroughly  indoc¬ 
trinated  in  the  Scriptures,  established 
in  habits  of  proportionate  giving  and 
personally  identified  with  evangelical 
work  before  he  reaches  that  age. 

Technically  the  term  Young  People 
applies  only  till  the  end  of  adolescence, 
or  say,  through  the  twenty-second 
year.  It  requires  an  average  of,  say, 
approximately  30,000  young  people 
and  70,000  children  to  be  recruited 
every  week  through  the  year  to  main¬ 
tain  the  membership  of  the  Young 
People’s  Societies  and  Sunday-schools 
at  their  present  enrollment,  so  the 
Young  People’s  Societies  present  a 
constant  demand  for  well  trained  lead¬ 
ers,  and  the  work  of  the  Sunday-school 
creates  similar  requirements  with 
growing  urgency. 

People’s 

The  fourth  stage  in  this  develop¬ 
ment  of  organized  young  people’s 
agencies  for  the  world’s  evangeliza¬ 
tion  is  the  “  Young  People’s  Mission¬ 
ary  Movement,”  which  was  born  of 
an  oppressive  sense  of  need  that  the 
ever  changing  membership  of  the 
Young  People’s  Societies  and  Sunday- 
schools  should  have  trained  leaders, 

16 


up  to  date  alike  in  the  wisdom  of  tne 
past  and  demands  of  the  present, 
capable  to  give  direction  to  the  sys¬ 
tematic  and  practical  study  of  the 
Word  and  work  of  God.  The  most 
successful  workers  in  these  fields  keenly 
recognize  this  need.  The  Young 
People’s  Missionary  Movement  has 
its.  Executive  Committee  of  fifteen, 
approved  or  selected  by  the  Mission¬ 
ary  Boards  of  the  various  Churches, 
its  Board  of  Council  and  its  Secretary 
with  well  equipped  offices. 

A  Missionary 

Clearing 

Its  organization  was  not  premedi-  House 
tated,  but  providential.  It  is  purely 
supplementary  to  the  work  of  the 
Church  Universal  and  in  no  sense  in¬ 
tended  to  supplant  any  branch  of  it. 

It  stands  for  the  broadest  catholicity 
through  an  enriching  and  enriched  de- 
nominationalism.  Each  church  may 
best  train  its  own  leaders,  but  where 
can  the  leaders  of  these  leaders  be 
trained  so  efficiently  as  in  an  Inter¬ 
denominational  Conference  by  de¬ 
nominational  specialists?  This  is  the 
object  of  the  Young  People’s  Mission¬ 
ary  Movement.  It  brings  together 
specialists  from  the  Young  Men’s 
Christian  Association,  the  Sunday- 
school,  the  Secretariate  of  the  various 
Mission  Boards,  returned  mission¬ 
aries,  the  leading  educational  institu¬ 
tions  and  representative  pulpits,  to 
give  instruction  in  its  conferences.  It 
is  a  clearing-house  of  facts  and  ideas, 
a  school  of  methods,  a  dynamo  of  in¬ 
spiration  for  both  home  and  foreign 
mission  workers,  where  each  labors 
for  all  and  all  serve  each. 

Conferences  for 
Leaders 

This  fourth  development  marks 
the  equipping  and  constructive  stage 


17 


through  which  key-workers  may  be 
selected,  enriched  and  trained  more 
thoroughly  than  ever  before  to  lead 
in  the  specific  work  of  organizing  and 
developing  the  young  people  through 
their  own  denominational  societies 
and  Sunday-schools.  Though  the 
first  preliminary  meeting,  out  of  which 
has  grown  this  organization,  was  held 
in  December,  1901,  it  has  conducted 
eight  Conferences,  attended  by  over 
twenty-two  hundred  workers  among 
young  people  from  about  thirty  de¬ 
nominations,  and  secured  a  permanent 
home  for  its  central  annual  Confer¬ 
ence  at  Silver  Bay. 

In  response  to  numerous  invitations, 
plans  are  being  perfected  to  hold  four 
of  its  Conferences  next  year,  one  each 
at  Silver  Bay,  on  Lake  George;  Ashe¬ 
ville,  North  Carolina;  Lake  Geneva, 
Wisconsin;  and  Whitby,  Canada. 

Five  Missionary  Conferences  or 
“  Summer  Schools,”  after  the  Silver 
Bay  type,  have  been  held  during  the 
last  two  years  in  Great  Britain.  Mr. 
S.  Earl  Taylor  participated  by  special 
request  in  two  of  these  in  1905.  Ar¬ 
rangements  are  in  progress  for  four 
similar  Conferences  in  the  summer  of 
1906. 

A  special  three  days’  Conference 
has  been  called  for  Silver  Bay  next 
July  to  discuss  plans  for  comprehen¬ 
sive  and  graded  Missionary  instruc¬ 
tion  in  the  Sunday-school. 

No  one  can  estimate  the  importance 
of  this  organization  which  promises  to 
become  a  movement  of  movements. 

The  Interdenominational  Mission¬ 
ary  Institute  is  an  interesting  out¬ 
growth  of  the  Movement’s  Summer 

18 


Conferences  and  promises  large  con¬ 
structive  influence.  These  institutes 
assemble  delegates  from  the  Sunday- 
schools  and  Young  People’s  Societies 
surrounding  metropolitan  centers. 

Their  object  is  to  train  leaders  who 
will  be  able  to  organize  and  direct 
Bible  or  Mission  Study  Classes  in 
every  congregation,  Sunday-school  and 
Young  People’s  Society  within  the  im¬ 
mediate  territory. 

Forty-six  institutes  have  been  held 
with  an  aggregate  attendance  of  17,- 
365  delegates  and  half  as  many  more 
are  scheduled  for  the  next  few  months, 
four  of  which  will  be  on  the  Pacific 
Coast. 

During  the  year  1904-05  sixty 
thousand  young  people  were  enrolled 
in  Classes  systematically  studying  the 
Mission  text-books  prepared  by  this 
Movement  and  during  the  first  three 
and  one-half  months  of  1905-06  an 
equal  number  have  been  enrolled 
which  suggests  a  large  growth  for  the 
year. 

Preparation  of 

Missionary 

Another  important  field  of  useful¬ 
ness  for  this  movement  is  in  the 
preparation  of  suitable  Missionary 
Programs,  material  and  literature  for 
the  Sunday-schools. 

A  set  of  carefully  selected  educa¬ 
tional  curios  from  Japan  have  been 
arranged  for  the  primary  department 
and  similar  boxes  to  illustrate  the 
study  of  Africa  and  India  are  being 
selected.  It  has  prepared  a  series  of 
Programs  and  illustrated  accessories 
for  the  Intermediate  Department  and 
a  Manual  of  missionary  work  in  the 
various  departments  of  the  Sunday- 


school  for  leaders  and  teachers  is  in 
preparation. 

This  material  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  denominational  missionary  secreta¬ 
ries  for  adaptation  to  denominational 
needs  and  used  through  denomina¬ 
tional  channels,  will  be  of  great 
educational  value  in  directing  the 
thought  of  the  fourteen  millions  of 
Sunday-school  scholars  to  the  needs  of 
the  mission  fields. 

Similar,  though  more  elaborate  and 
advanced  material,  prepared  for  the 
use  of  Young  People’s  Societies  may 
give  direction  to  the  five  million  mem¬ 
bers  of  these  organizations  in  a  pro¬ 
gressive  study  of  the  world  field. 

Mission  Study 

book's  A  form  of  service  that  has  already 
proven  of  great  value  is  the  prepara¬ 
tion  of  suitable  text-books  for  the  use 
of  Young  People’s  Mission  Study 
Classes.  To  meet  the  demand  for 
such  text-books  the  Movement, 
through  its  Editorial  Committee,  is 
preparing  the  Forward  Mission  Study 
Courses.  These  Courses,  as  at  pres¬ 
ent  outlined,  comprise  twenty  volumes 
written  by  leading  authorities  on  mis¬ 
sions  and  present  the  needs  and  condi¬ 
tions  of  both  home  and  foreign  mis¬ 
sion  fields. 

Libraries'  The  need  and  demand  for  books  of 
this  type  are  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
the  publications  of  the  Movement  are 
being  used  and  distributed  by  thirty- 
two  Missionary  Boards  in  the  United 
States,  Canada,  Great  Britain,  New 
Zealand,  Australia,  South  America, 
South  Africa  and  India.  The  Move¬ 
ment  has  prepared  and  published  seven 
Mission  Study  Text-Books,  of  which 


20 


165,000  volumes  have  been  sold.  It 
has  selected  and  issued  six  Libraries, 
including  two  General  Libraries  and 
four  Reference  Libraries,  the  aggre¬ 
gate  sales  of  which  have  been  155,947 
volumes. 

The  leaflets,  pamphlets  and  other 
accessories  issued  to  assist  Mission 
Study  and  Missionary  Committees  ap¬ 
proach  a  total  of  500,000.  It  has  also 
prepared  and  published  outline  maps 
of  different  countries  and  various  sets 
of  Mission  charts. 

The  selection  and  preparation  of 
Libraries  suitable  for  Juniors  and 
the  younger  Sunday-school  scholars 
are  now  receiving  the  attention  of 
the  Library  Committee. 

Denominational 
Y  oung 

The  greatest  work  of  the  Young 
People’s  Missionary  Movement  is  not 
as  an  independent  organization,  but 
as  a  servant  of  the  denominational 
boards  whose  representatives  consti¬ 
tute  its  Executive  Committee  and 
Board  of  Counsel. 

The  leading  denominations  are  rec¬ 
ognizing  the  opportunity  and  obliga¬ 
tion  which  these  converging  lines  of 
organized  young  people’s  work  create. 

A  number  of  Missionary  Boards  have 
standing  or  special  Committees  to  su¬ 
pervise  the  Young  People’s  Mission¬ 
ary  work  within  their  denominations. 

Eleven  Secretaries  are  giving  all  their 
time  and  ten  others  partial  time  to 
foster  and  develop  the  study  and  work 
of  Missions  among  the  young  people 
of  their  churches. 

Achievements  in 

The  following  facts  concerning  the 
work  of  the  Young  People  s  Depart- 


ment  of  a  single  denomination  give  an 
encouraging  insight  into  the  possibil¬ 
ities  of  this  work  when  fully  developed 
in  all  Boards  and  Churches.  Every 
Sunday-school  of  this  denomination  is 
organized  into  a  Sunday-school  Mis¬ 
sionary  Society  with  provisions  for  a 
monthly  meeting  and  a  missionary  an¬ 
niversary  in  each  school.  They  gave 
last  year  $509,000  for  missions  and 
are  showing  a  healthy  growth  in  intel¬ 
ligent  sympathy  and  practical  aid. 

The  Young  People’s  Society  of  this 
denomination  occupies  high  ground  in 
the  cause  of  world-wide  evangeliza¬ 
tion.  The  constitution  requires  a 
standing  committee  to  be  appointed  in 
every  Chapter,  which  committee  un¬ 
der  the  chairmanship  of  a  special  Vice- 
President  supervises  the  department 
of  world  evangelization,  including 
mission  study,  church  benevolences 
and  various  forms  of  missionary  activ¬ 
ity.  Mission  study  is  a  regular  feature 
of  its  educational  plan.  In  i904-’c>5 
the  Secretary  of  the  Young  People’s 
Department  of  its  Missionary  Society 
gave  direction  to  1308  mission  study 
classes  with  an  enrollment  of  17,264 
systematically  studying  the  prescribed 
courses,  and  a  great  many  classes  were 
not  officially  reported.  Since  1901 
over  42,000  have  been  enrolled  in  its 
mission  study  classes. 

Its  Missionary  Society  has  a  Young 
People’s  Secretary  and  a  Missionary 
Editor  with  well  organized  offices, 
both  directed  by  a  standing  committee 
of  the  Board.  They  are  creating  and 
circulating  literature;  planning  for 
and  assisting  at  conventions;  prepar¬ 
ing  and  displaying  missionary  exhib- 


22 


its ;  conducting  correspondence,  direct¬ 
ing  student  campaigns  and  campaign¬ 
ers.  In  one  year,  under  the  direction 
of  the  Young  People’s  Secretary, 
thirty  colleges  were  visited  and  con¬ 
ferences  held  to  train  campaigners, 
and  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  cam¬ 
paigners  were  placed  in  the  field  to 
organize  and  conduct  mission  and 
Bible  study  classes,  circulate  literature 
and  locate  Missionary  Libraries. 
During  the  year,  cards,  leaflets  and 
pamphlets,  aggregating  785,000 
pieces,  were  printed  and  sent  out  by 
the  Young  People’s  Department  in 
the  interests  of  Mission  study  and 
stewardship.  In  addition  to  these  its 
outgoing  mail  has  included  151,000 
personal  and  circular  letters. 


Each  of  the  four  great  movements, 
the  Sunday-school,  the  Young  Men’s 
and  Young  Women’s  Christian  Asso¬ 
ciations,  the  Young  People’s  Societies, 
and  the  Young  People’s  Missionary 
Movement,  has  its  distinctive  field  and 
commission,  but  they  naturally  over¬ 
lap  and  supplement  each  other.  All 
are  the  legitimate  children  of  the 
Church  which  begat  and  nurtures 
them.  She  rejoices  in  their  develop¬ 
ment.  Their  success  is  her  honor,  and 
they  are  honored  in  being  able  to  aid 
with  growing  efficiency  in  preparing 
her  for  the  coming  of  Him  who  is 
Lord  of  All. 

The  church  which  neglects  her 
young  people  “  proves  herself  improv¬ 
ident  and  must  neither  wonder  nor 
complain  if  Heaven  leaves  her  nothing 
to  nurse  but  her  own  desolation.” 

What  is  true  of  the  churches  in  the 


The  Obligation 
and 

Opportu¬ 
nity  of  the 
Church 


23 


United  States  in  their  relation  to  this 
great  problem,  is  in  a  measure  true  of 
all  the  churches  and  lands  in  Christen¬ 
dom. 

Nothing  is  accomplished  without 
vision.  Those  through  whom  the 
Spirit  of  God  has  its  most  effective 
work  are  the  Seers,  those  who  see  the 
vision  of  God’s  purpose  and  of  human 
opportunity.  They  have  the  first  qual¬ 
ification  for  leadership  in  the  world’s 
evangelization. 

We  are  now  living  in  the  dispensa¬ 
tion  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  when  it  was 
promised,  “  Your  young  men  shall  see 
visions,”  and  “  the  spirit  of  teaching 
shall  be  given  to  your  sons  and  daugh¬ 
ters.”  Surely,  “  The  light  that  never 
was  on  sea  or  land  ”  is  the  illumina¬ 
tion  of  these  organized  activities  of 
the  young  people. 

Their  responsibility  and  their  goal 
is  the  world’s  evangelization.  Their 
challenge  is  to  the  host  of  God.  Their 
activity  and  development  give  hope 
that  in  and  through  the  young  people, 
who  rapidly  transform  knowledge  in¬ 
to  power,  and  are  teeming  with  that 
joyous  fulness  of  creative  life  which 
radiates  thoughts  as  inspirations  and 
dissipates  “  the  torpor  of  narrow  vis¬ 
ion  and  indolent  ignorance  ”  by  the  ir¬ 
resistible  power  of  the  broad  human 
gladness  found  in  a  life  of  unselfish 
love  of  their  kind,  the  desire  of  God 
shall  be  realized,  “  Who  will  have  all 
men  to  be  saved  and  come  unto  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth.” 


t 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  MISSIONARY  MOVEMENT 
IBS  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK 


